hr Caw:Loin lintelligentel GEO. SANDERSOPi, EDITOR. A. OA.NDICRSON.Associate. im=w LANCASTER, PA., JANUARY 5, 1864. WB. N. Pwrierions t Co.'s AtMilffille Anwar, 87 Perk Bow, New Boss City, and 10 Rate street, Boston. B.M. Ym t Ofi + are ter .214, yeeparster hANOWO,f lit! 'nod UftWW and meet atrouls gag iewwill_ttes United Btatei =Attie Cansdes.— They are -.lod to contract tin to at on :were rater - & Assenr, No. 886 Broadway, New 'Z r k 'rustle:shed to reoetes advesteesfisits for The oar. at our lowest rates. .INP. Joss' Wisirtm's Annwrimo Amcor le located at N 0.60 North sth street, Philadelphia. He Le authorised to receive sdrertirennente and subscriptions for The Zancarter No. 1 Bagley' , Building, Court St., Boston, Is Cat authodzed Agent for receiving advertisements, Ac 017 R. "E' C3t. Now our flag to flung to the wild winds free, Let it Goat o'er our fatber land, And the guard of ite spotlees fame shall be Columbia's chosen band. "CLING TO THE CONSTITUTION, AS THE SHIPWRECKED MARINER CLINGS TO THE LAST PLANK, WHEN NIGHT AND THE TEMPEST CLOSE AROUND HIM."-DANIEL WEBSTER. SCALE OF ADVERTISING RAMS At a meeting of the Publlehers of the City of Lancestc held on Friday, December 18th, 1883, the following seal of advertising rates was adopted, to take effect from and after Jwitury lst, 1884: ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT. BUSINESS 4DVERtISEXENTS by the year, or fractions of year. in Weekly papers, to be charged at the rate of $12.00 per square of ten lines. 10 per cent. increnee on the yearly rate for fractions of a year. HEAL ESTATE. PERSONAL PitoPtiter and GENERAL ADYLEtTis. ENO to be charged at the rate of cent„ rents per nue for the first inse , tion, and Four cents per line for every subsequent insertion. Pataar MEDICINES, BITTERS, AND ALL “TIIES ADTERTISE. SUM, by the column, half, third, or quarter column, to be charged as follows: One column, yearly, sloo.oo One-half o demo. yearly 60 00 40.u0 One third column, yearly One quarter column, yearly, 3:1 00 Bostassa CARDS. early, not exceedng ten lines, $lO.OO Business Cards. y 5 lines or less, ss. i 00. LEGAL NCTICEI3 to be charged as follows: kxecutors' Notices Administrators' Noticee, Aesignees' Notices Auditors' Notices All Notices not exceeding ten lines, or less, for three insertions, 1.50 SPECIAL NOTICES, ineerted in Local Department, to charged fifteen Cents per line. BISHOPS —All advertisements preceding the Marriage or Markets to be charged at the rate of ten cents per line for the first insertion, Bud jive centre par line for every subsequent insertion. Mariano!, to be charged 25 cents each in the paper first pubtisbing the same. This Rem to take effect on the first day of February next. °SMART NOTICES to be charged at advertirung rates. TlanUTEs OP RESPECT, RESOLUTIONs, he , to be charged 10 cents per line. GOMMUNICATIONs setting forth the claims of individual! cities, Ac., to be charged 10 cents per line. ANNOUNCEMENTS of osrues of candidates for °Bice, Ac be chergod as folios.: For Server For Aesembly, , For Sheriff, For Prothonotary, For ReOiter For Recorder, For 'Treasurer, For Clerk Quarter Sessions, Fur Clerk orphans' Court,.. For Corom , selooer, F. r Directors of the P00r,.. For Prieon I usi•ef! This f.o 0, be ',aid he advance, and if erected doub rates to li, charged December 18th, 18G3. the above fcheuute of Pric, unanimously adopted by the underi,igLed, Publishers the City of Lancaster, Pa. JNO. A. 11l ESTAND &•CO...b.caminer cf, !Pruitt PE A RSOL & OEIST, Doil y dt lPeekly E'xprrss JOHN B k ER'S SONS Vulksfr , und GEO. BAND e.; fvoN ,nedt,p,ncer. S. A VVYLIE, Prtily 6 IRekly nquirer. B W 'LEY, Job Printer. N. H. THOMAS, C hurch r duccclt STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE A meeting of the Democratic State Central Corn mittee will be held at the Merchants' Hotel, in Philadelphia, on WEDNESDAY, the 13th day of JANUARY inst., at 4 o'clock, P. M. By order of the Chairman, _ _ fiEr Our City Collector will com mence operations to-day. The ac counts of Columbia and Marietta have also been placed in the hands of Collectors. We trust they may meet with the desired and ziecesscvy success. A number of other ac counts have been sent by mail, which we hope will be promptly re sponded to ; and we also invite de linquents generally throughout the county and elsewhere to remit by mail at our risk, or call at the office. We are determined to keep our heads above water, if possible, and we can do it if our patrons will only do their duty. Come friends, give us a lift in the right direction. The State Legislature The State Legislature commences its session to-day. In consequence of there being a tie in the Senate, some delay is anticipated in the or ganization of that branch, although we hardly suppose there will be much trouble. In the House, the Republicans having the majority, an orpnization will be accomplished without any difficulty. The Governor's Message will ap pear in our next issue, and we shall endeavor to keep our readers advised of everything of general importance which transpires in the State Capi tol during the session. The Way the Money Goes The New York Atlas says that Major BRUA CAMERON, a son of Simon, has been placed upon the re tired list, with the pay of an Acting Paymaster of the Army. He therefore, receive for life, from a grateful conntity, $2,000 or $2,500 a year for doing nothing, which sum the people must pay through crush ing taxation. This favor purports to have been granted for long and faithful service; a slight draft upon the credulity of the people, when they are told that Major BRUA CAM ERON has been in the army, as a Pay master, just two years! This is a great country, and no mistake, and great is the forbearance of the peo ple fiEr Congress having adjourned over the holidays, will again assem ble to-day. jgls In advertisements sent to this office by our Philadelphia, New York and Boston Agents, they will be governed by the new scale of prices adopted by the Publishers of this city. Vir The proceedings of the Gor donville Literary Society, handed to us for publication come under the new scale of prices, and are inserted at the rate of 10 cents per line. A Great Man Fallen. Archbishop HUGHES, a distin guished Prelate of the Roman Cath olic Church, died at his residence in New York, on Sunday evening last. NEW .FEDERAL BANKING SYSTEM A Few Thoughts. AS A. NEW TAX ON PROPERTY. There has been nothing doing of I In 1862, says the Syracuse Courier, there consequence, for the last two months were in all the States, including Branch in the army of Virginia or of Ten-, Banks, 1,400 under the State charters. Total nessee, nor is it at all likely there I capital, $419,000,000 ; circulation, 173,000,- bewill ' any thing done for three 1 000. The average capital and circulation for months to come, as the severity of four years previous varied not over $10,000,000 the weather and e condition -of the f from this amount. The amount varies but roads are such, and will so continue ; little now. during the winter, as to prevent any ; The new Federal Banks are to be based on movement of importance in either 1 the stocks of the Federal Government, and locality. In the meantime the enor- I their circulation is to consist of Greenbacks moos expenses of the Government I furnished by the Federal Secretary of the go on without a moment's intermix- 1 Treasury. Both the stocks and the circula sion, and the Nation is being sad- . tion by the Federal law, are not taxable by died with an immense debt at the the States. The effect, therefore. of this new rate of not less than two millions of banking system seems to be to withdraw from dollars per day! When is this thing I taxation, if the Federal Government succeeds to end ? is the query in the mouth ; in superseding the State Banks by this new of every reflecting citizen, and an-, ( brood'of Federalßanks, $600,000,000 of Bank .other equally pertinent, and one ing capital. All the State taxes now paid by which legitimately follows the first, the Banks, must thenceforward be distributed is, how is it to end ? upon and paid by other property ! As to the first interrogatory, we j But this is not the end. As these Banks confess ourselves totally in the dark, multiply and their currency increases in and unable to answer it in a satis- amount, every holder in whose hands it depre factory manner. But, with regard ciates either becomes taxed for the difference to the second, we think the answer between its real and nominal value at which is so plain that he who runs may I he can pass it in payment, or if he pays it out read the not distant future. We be - at its nominal value, is taxed in having to pay lieve the war will end, sooner or a proportionate increase of price for that which later, (and it must end sometime,) he buys. /This is a perpetual tax so long in National bankruptcy and ruin, as the money continues to be a legal tender. and a general demoralization of the None, except those who at the beginning masses which is fearful to contem- believed that this war could be ended in three, plate. Already we see the evidences six or twelve months, believe that this war can of the demoralizing tendency of the be fought out in the next four years. We are war all around us, but this is only confronted to-day by more powerful armies the beginning of the end. When than at the beginning ; and the Confederates, the strife is over and the army dis- by their retreat to the interior fastnesses of banded, we shall only realize the sad their country, are compelling us to fight at a truth in all its hideousness and mag- greater disadvantage. There is equal or nitude, and shall then know, if we greater reason to-day to expect the war to have been oblivious to the fact be- last four years'than there was in the begin fore, that this war has been one of fling. If ABRAHAM LINCOLN, or any other the most terrible calamities ever in- politician of his school, be re-elected, there is flitted on civilized humanity in anv not a particle of reason to doubt that the war quarter of the globe, since the ad- will last another term of four years, if conduct vent of our Saviour. ed upon its present policy of conquest. If con- These are sad and solemn thoughts, ducted on its present scale of magnitude the but they are nevertheless true, and debt will grow so vast as to be beyond the we shall all realize them to be verity ability to pay, and both the bonds and the sooner or later. We would that it greenbacks will have become worthless.— were otherwise—that we could, con- They will have sunk so low that, in the words sistently with truth and an unbiassed ' of Mr. CHASE, it will " take a thousand dollars judgment, take a brighter view of •to buy a breakfast." The schemers who now the future's picture. But we cannot talk glibly about the last dollar and the last do it, and we would be derelict in man, will have taken good care to shift the duty as public journalists if we were stocks and notes and rotten banking iniititu to inculcate or propagate any other tions into more innocent and less shrewd pas sentiments. Let the future history session ; and thousands will thus he mulched of the country settle the question as I of all their possessions and all their paper for to whether we are right or wrong in ' the benefit of " the Government" and its our conclusions. Abolition experiments. The Demopratic Party. , THE CONSCRIPTION. . , The Democratic .---e party •of this We ought to have learned by the experience country came into being at the first , of NAPOLEON, in the last years of his ware formation of parties under our Gov- that with raw troops in the field, offensive war , ernment. It has stood its ground cannot be made with - any success. In 1812, and maintained its identity from between Spain and Russia, NAPOLEON lost by that day to this, while its opponents battle and disease, and the fatigues and pri have undergone as many changes as vations of war, seven hundred thousand men. Proteus. It has outlived the Federal •To supply their places, and enable him to take party, the National Republican party, the field with large forces, he made, in 1813 the anti-Masonic party, the Whig and 1814, extraordinary levies amounting to party, the Know-Nothing party ; and twelve hundred thousand men, and they were the Black Republican party, its most almost entirely destroyed. Of the enforce recent opponent, is in its last agonies, ment of that conscription, the historian says: trying to shuffle oiT its mortal coil ' "The price of substitutes rose to 25,000 and in some instances to 30,000 francs. p and apear in a new body as the so and b Families tofeearningsrespectabilityand ea parted vgin witha lung theiri called Union party. The old Federal fortunes, and Whig parties did not fall through life, to save their sons from des a of tructiit from any want of talents and ability; being invariably undeptood, and not the less true, that purchasing a substitute for the con they, doubtless, had more intellectual c man tosacrifice his cultivation in proportion to their t fortio awasbribing a another.Des a ert a m Desertion, to in numbers than the Democratic party ceseant, and the prefects were became constantly oe has ever had. But talent is natur- I cupied in enforcing its penalties. Long files y ally ambitious, and ambition covets of young conscripts were everywhere to be seen haggard marching g visages, a ttir places ownen of et punishment, eyes, anda power ; while the sure instincts and with unbiased common sense of the peo- four and twenty pound shot chained to their pie always guide them to correct con- anoles ; wiat numbers, epecially n the mounta h i le n di gre stricts, driven to s desperatio i n elusions respecting_ their rights and by t the e one fat hand, e ot' a the battle ndthealternative ofsuch has field and the interests. The Democratic party onh has flourished in undecaying youth, a punishment on the other, formed themselves s because it has always been in sym- into roving hands, subsisting by plunder and , bidding defiance to the pens de armes and the pathy with the masses of the people. local authorities." $5 00 300 500 500 5 00 501 .5 00 5 00 5 , 0 3 00 250 C. J. BIDDLE $12,000,000 UN ACCOUNTED FOR. It came out in a recent Congressional de- STATE AND U. STATES INTEREST. bate that twelve millions dollars realized The Philadelphia Dial says the Girard in commutations from the draft, and which, Bank will pay to day, (24 January,) the according to law, should have been tipplied to semi-annual coupons of the State, due Jane-, the procuration of substitutes, have been ex- ary 1, 1864, in gold, amounting to some pended by Secretary Stanton, and nobody by s2othoe 00 of interest. The only let of in anuary a terest paid seems to know how or for witat !He asks an Commonwealth, the J appropriation of twenty millions to expend in July, is that of its coupon 5 per cents. The bounties, and on inquiry being made as to great bulk of the State interest is payable Ist what had become of the twelve millions paid February and August, also in gold, at the in, Mr. Garfield (Radical), from the Military Farmers and Mechanics' Bank. It is proper Committee, a Major-General in the service, 1 to state, however, that the gold fund from and late Chief of General Rosecrans' staff, which the interest is paid is realized ratably said, the " commutation money had already . 1 from all the city banks, as per arrangement been paid out, whether properly, or legally, with the State authorities a year ago. he would not undertake to decide." This is The General Government will also pay an interesting revelation, truly. Twelve mil- to day, at the office of the Assistant Treasurer, lions of a military fund gone, and the Military , the semi-annual coupons and registered inter- Committee of the House of Representatives est on its loans of 1861, in gold. will not undertake to say whether it has been As a gold dollar is now worth one dollar expended either legally or properly " U and fifty-two cents of paper, it will require Here is business for a War-Smelling Corn- i $30,000 in bankable paper to pay the $20,000 1 interest due by the State. A late despatch from New Orleans conveys the intelligence that " At the late Convention held at New Or— leans of Free State men, called for the pur pose of choosing unconditional Union men to represent the State of Louisiana in the Con— vention of the Union men of the States to meet at Louisville, a delegation of colored men was admitted to seats, and the proceed— ings of the Convention were opened with prayer by a colored minister." Is it not almost time to stop and ask our selves whither are we drifting ? Is this not negro equality in its fullest and broadest sense. These are the creatures who are to organize Mr. Lincoln's new Union. These are the '• noble colored men " to whom Mr. Sumner and Mr. Phillips are to give the lands of the white men of the South. These are they who are to meet at Louisville, in solemn conclave, and abolish slavery throughout the entire South—or so much of slavery as will be left by the present Congress. Is there to be no turning point in the race of folly and madness in which the authorities at Washing ton and their military satraps are now running? UNION PRISONERS. — The Union prisoners recently released by the rebel authorities— five hundred and twenty in number—arrived at Annapolis on Tuesday. They are all pri vate soldiers from Belle Island, and are Paid to be in the best condition The overcoats and blankets sent by the government to our prisoners in Richmond have been distributed, each of those arriving at Annapolis having been provided with them.--National Intel ligencer. The rebels are in considerable force in the Shenandoah Valley.— On Friday they drove in the Federal advance post at Winchester, and forced a retreat to Bunker Hill.— The rebels now hold Winchester. FORTY FEET OE SNOW.-A gentleman of St. Louis, who has a brother living in Salt Lake territory, lately received a letter from him containing the information that already snow had fallen to the depth of forty feet in the Rocky Mountains, a larger amount than has been known there for many years past. NEGRO EQUALITY Another Raid. OFFICIAL THIEVES The Pittsburg Commercial, a leading Re— publican organ, thus discourses of Federal corruption. Certainly it has reason to know the truth on this subject : " The immense patronage of the Federal Government being placed in the hands of the members of Congress, contrary to the spirit of our government, has thrown wide open the doors for corruption, and so fearfully corrupt has the public service in some branches become, that, during the present year, a few scoundrels have been tried, convicted and sent to prison, whose united frauds (or more properly rob beries) amounted to a sum larger than the entire annual revenue of the country during the administration of Washington ; and we venture to say that, of the largo sum raised by the Government since the beginning of the war, fully one fourth has been filched by the untried scoundrels, who, secure in their re— lationship to the member who placed them in position, and who would be disgraced by their exposure, or, relying upon his interest in a " community of profits," openly flaunt their ill gotten riches in the face of day, with the swelling insolence of wealth and office, ar— rogate to themselves a superiority over honest citizens, and carry themselves with a pridr so lofty and so ridiculous as to excite th wrath and ridicule, both of men and gods." IT DON'T LOOK WELL Whenever, of late, there is a prospect of coal coming down, it is given out that the miners have made a strike, stopped the col lieries, Scc., and that there must necessarily be a great decrease in the amount of coal sent to market. Now, it is very strongly suspected that there is a "cat in the meal tub " in this thing of strikes, and that in many instances the operators themselves have a very big finger in it. A few days ago there was a fall in the price of coal, and at once the old tale of a strike was given out. The ex orbitant price of coal, which is putting money in the pockets of operators faster than would a gold mine, naturally makes the people sen sitive on this thing of keeping up the charges, and there is a growing feeling in favor of striking off all duties that may keep foreign competitors out of the market. Operators should remember that the people are the ma jority, and that the time may come when they will strike back. It is true, that at the pres ent prices of coal, operators make a fortune in a very short time, and may consider that, before any change can be effected they will be independent; but they, like everybody else, we opine, will find honesty to be the best polioy.—Lebanon Courier. TRUTH PROR A . 4 LOYAL . 9 SOURCE. If the following were the product of a I Democratic newspaper, the Administration at Washington would not stop to deny the truth fulness of the allegations therein contained, but stride forward at once to denunciation of such Democratic newspaper as an ally of the rebellion. It is perhaps fortunate that there is a class of newspapers which have so far supported the Administration, and whose support is so essential to it, that they can tell somewhere about one half the truth, and at the same time compel the Administration to admit it to the extent that " silence gives consent." Being witnesses for it in many things, the Administration cannot, on fair legal or moral principles, deny their testimony in any thing. To this class belongs the Louisville (Ky.) Journal, which says: " There has been no more fatal mistake of policy on the part of the dominant party than the refusal to allow the people of those States which were precipitated into rebellion by ambitious and disloyal knaves to take their own time and mode of discumbering them selves of the load of guilt, and of resuming, under the simple protection of the national authorities, their loyal connection with the old government and the old Union. Had the armies of the Union, when advancing into disloyal States, directed their attention simply to the restoration and enforcement of the laws, the coming Congress might have been rep resented by several other States titan those which have elected representatives. This is particulary the case with Tennessee. The military power of the government has pre vented the return of that State to its loyalty, at a time when it was anxious, under the laws, to have a Governor, Legislature, and members of Congress, and that interference has delayed the enfranchisement of Tennessee for two more years. This should nut have occurred. The loyal people of that long suf fering and severely tested State ought to have been aided in their effort to shake off the chains which Isham Harris and his co-con spiratore forged for them ; but, instead of this, they were restrained of their rights and were unable to exercise their elective franchise. This, we repeat, was a fatal mis take of policy, which is evident on the most casual consideration." FRED. DOUGLASS AND THE PRRSI The Anti Slavery Convention held in Ph adelphia was addressed by FRED. DOUGLABP, who evidently feels himself now to be of con sequence, and why.shouldn't be ? From the IV. Y. Tribune report of his speech we clip the following; " He detailed a visit he had paid to Presi dent Linc. , LN. Men had waited in the ante chamber for days, but the moment his card was sent in the usher returned with an invi tation to walk up. Some office beggar near by remarked : I knew it would be so. He's a nigger that's enough." Mr. DOUGLASS asked the audience to imagine how the President received him, a colored man. " Why, pre cisely," said he, " as one gentleman receives another." Alluding to the President's height and length of limb, he remarked that ho was " spread about the vs m in the way usually ascribed to him," and as he entered, com menced rising, and continued to rise. A cordial shaking of hands ensued." FRED. DOUGLASS also stated in Philadelphis, in what the " dignity of the country." con sisted, and when we should have it, thus ; " While we give majorities in favor of what is called the Democratic party ; while the New York World and Express are scattered through the cities of the land, and the father, mother, —devil of them all, the New York Herald, is seen upon the highways, byways and railways of the country, we are in danger of a compro mice. There will be no dignity in the country till the colored man is honorably admitted into the body politic." THE CONSCRIPTION ACT The following are, in substance, the various amendments intended to be proposed to the bill amendatory of the Conscr,,iptian Act: By Mr. Powell—That the amended act shall not take effect in States in which the draft, under the original act, has not been enforced. The first draft in thi.,e States shall take place us if the amended act hod not passed. By Mr. Trumbull—That the fact that any person of foreign birth has voted in any State or Territory, or held any office in its gift, shall be taken as conclusive evidence that such person is not entitled to exemption from mili tary service on aceount of alienage. By Mr. Howe—That all sums paid by way of commutation shall constitute a fund to he equally distributed among the several persons who shall be drafted into te service tinder the same call, one-third to be paid at the termin ation of each year's service. By Mr. Anthony—That any drafted person conscientiously unable to perform military service by reason of his sincere and religious scruples against bearing arms. may apply by petition to any Judge of the U. S. Court for the district in which he resides, and the Judge shall hear and decide upon the case, direct— ing, if he see fit, that the petitioner be relieved from the penalty provided for his refusal to bear arms. And the person so exempted shall be in honor bound to contribute toward any hospital or charity, a peace offering, in accor dance with his means. By Mr. Wilson—That any person resident in the States of Virginia, Nocth or South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis sippi, Louisiana, Texas or Arkansas, who may voluntarily enlist in the United States service, shall he entitled to the benefits and privileges of existing laws, and may elect into what regiments they shall he mustered, and be credited to the State to which such regiment belongs. Africans to be mustered' only into Afridan regiments. CORRUPTION IN HIGH. PLACES In an article on the practices in vogue at Washington, the New York Journal of Commerce draws the following frightful pie, The period in which we just now live is one of unbounded fraud and corruption. There was never an Administration in Washington under which fraud was carried on as openly and boldly as now. The millions that are the plunder of the present army of hangers-on will never be counted. There is no end to the terrible revelation. Nor does the trouble stop with the mere robbing of the public purse.— The most atrocious . crimes are perpetrated with the stolen money, and the people are growing used to the recitals. Legislators are bought and sold in Pennsylvania, New York and elsewhere. Elections are fraudulently carried. The machinery of political parties is turned everywhere to the private account of individual office seekers or money-seekers The taint is spreading through the entire body politic. Men look calmly new on crimes from which they would have shrunk two years or three years ago. Men think on the whole that it is a goad thing when the Admin istration carry an election by shipping home a few thousand selected voters. Men chuckle over some political rush in which a Legislature is bought for money. Men approve the action of the 'Preasury Department in giving a responsible office to a man whose vote, conseienceand reputation, as every one knows, were sold by himself and bought by the party which protects him.. Ni one seems to think that fraud, or public robbery, is a very great crime. We meet daily in the streets, nightly at receptions and grand assemblies, men who are known to be fattening on plunder, but whose social position seems wholly unaffected by the fact. We are not drawing any tco dark a picture of the moral condition of affairs under the present Administration. The doc trine is in principle everywhere aced on, that if a man professes to be right on the negro question he may be as black a sinner on all other questions as he pleases, acid net lose the social and public support of either the leaders of his party or his daily associates in life. WHY HE HOLDS IT.—The New Y.,rk Herald says that the reasons why Longstreet holds on so tenaciously to East Tennessee are, ;ha , he does so to subsist his troops and to forward all the extra supplies he can gather• toward Rich-. mond, and that he is protecting the rebel workmen engaged in extracting the nitre from the caves of East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia, and also the salt works of that section, from which the Confederacy now pro cures nearly all its supplies of salt. It will thus be seen that so long as Longstreet occu• pies the eastern corner of East Tennessee he is doing the most important service to Jeff. Davis. LOCAL DY2ARTNEINT. A HAPPY RS-UNION—BIRTH-DAY ANNI— VERSAILY.-112 company with a number of friends we paid a visit to Col. Baseasi. C. STAMBAUGH, at his beautiful residence, " Annadale," near the city, on Friday afternoon last. The occasion was the birth-day anniversary of the Colonel. The well known hospitality of " Annadale" was dispensed with hearty cheer by the Colonel and his estimable and accomplished lady. A more agreeable after noon wilave not spent for a long time, and we should like to know who ever paid a visit to " An medals" that cannot call up pleasurable recollee ' tions? For whole-waled hospitality , agreeableness of manners, and pleasant social conversation, we will place Annadale," with its esteemed host and hostess, almost at the head of any private mansion we know of. We are glad to know that the Colonel and his lady are in good health. May they live many years, and each succeeding New Year be hap pier than those which have preceded At down the declivity of Time. THE LECTURES —The lectures of Rev. Mr. Casnow, in the Dake street id. E. Church, on Wed nesday and Friday evenings of the present week, and the same evenings of next week, on " The South American Spaniards and their Country," we hope will be well attended. That they will be highly interesting and instructive, there cannot be a doubt. The well-known talents of the lecturer, and his familiarity with the Spanish character ob tained by a four years' residence as a Ails ionary in that hitherto bat little known portion of the great American continent, are a sufficient guarantee that the audience will get the worth of their money and more, in a rich intellectual and historical treat.— We, therefore, trust that he will be greeted with an overflowing house. The first lecture in the course takes place on to-morrow evening, commencing at 7f o'clock. Admission 1.2 f cents, or 50 cents for the Course. MASONlC.—Companion CHAS. M. HOWELL, of this city, has been appointed District Deputy Grand High Priest, by the M. E. G. High Priest, for the counties of Lancaster, York and Adams. He was also elected December 7th and installed Decem ber 28th as District Deputy Grand Master for the same counties and Lodge No. 309 at Downingtown, to serve for the ensuing Masonic year. Tee DRAFT POSTF3NED.—Orders have been issued by the War Department postponing the draft until the 15th of January. This will give ten days longer time to fill up quotas with volunteers and to make needful preparations against the Provost Marshal's coming raid. LEAP YEAR.—The year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, is Bis sextile, or leap year. It is so called because it leaps over a day more than a common year; thus in com mon years there are three hundred and sixty-five days, in leap year three hundred and sixty-six. it is said that during this year more bachelors commit matrimony than in the other three, and for this several reasons have been assigned. Caring nothing about reasons, we hope the ball may commence roll ing early in the year, and continue till thousands shall be able to say, In the language of Shakspeare : She is mine own ; And I as rich in having such a jewel, As twenty seas, it all their sends were pearl, The waters nectar, and the rooks pure gold. WE DIRECT ATTENTION to the advertisement of Mr. PHILIP 110 BER in another column. Mr. H. is a first-class mechanic, and of souse all his work is of the very best. RELIEF FOR SOLDIERS' FA MILIES—LIST 0 LOCAL RELIEF COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. - 1D consequence of the urgent appeals wade by a large number of citizens of the City and County of Lancaster, the Commis sioners of said county have appointed the following named gentlemen a committee, in their respective districts, to visit all needy families and ascertain and report the names of all persons who are in actual want in consequence of their dependence on their hu•bands, parents and friends being volunteers and drafted men of Lancaster county in the service of the General Government. No persons shall receive relief but those who are in absolute need : Adamstown Bor.—Sebastian Miller, Cyrus Regal, Henry Stauffer Bart—John Heidlebaugh, Christopher Graham, Joseph McClure. Breoknook—Levi Leash, Anthony Good, John Oberholteer. Csernarvon—David Styer, Hiram Evans, Joseph Hertzler. Cocalico East—Henry H. Shirk, Cyrus Ream, Martin H. Fry. Cocalico West—Michael H. Shirk, Levi Menteer, Adam Ream. Colerain—Cornelius Collins, Robert tiogg, David Miller. Columbia—Lower Ward—George Bogle, John B. Bachman. Columbia—Upper Ward—Peter Fraley, John W. Steacy. Conestoga—Samuel M. Wright, Casper Hiller, George Shoff. Uonoy—Jacob Haldeman, John Wiley, Jr., Abra ham Collins. Clay—Jesse Pennypacker, Samuel Eberly, Chris. tian W icier. Donegal East—John Miller, Herman Lightner, Andrew Armstrong. Donegal West—Martin It. Nissley, Samuel Stauf fer. Leander Lindemuth. Drumore—William Williams, William S. Long, P. W. Housekeeper. Ephrata—David Kemper, George L. Bauman, Ja cob Sharp. Earl—Jacob Holsinger, A. C. Sutton, Christian Johns. Earl West—Elias Bomberger, Henry B. Graybill, Reuben R. Eitzer. Earl East—Absalom Biller, Daniel S. Geist, Geo. J. High. Elizabeth—Edwin Krider, Moses Brubaker, Sam uel H. Miller. Elizabethtown Bor.—Henry Dissinger, Henry A. Wade, Samuel Eby. Eden—William Dungan, William Withers, Geo. Hensel. Fulton—Lawrence Ripple, Joseph Ballance, Day Wood. Hempfield East—Aaron Summy, Isaac Hollinger, Henry Shenk. Hempfield West—Jacob M. Grider, William Rob erts, Joseph Hoover. Lampeter East—Peter Johns, Abraham Buokwal ter, John Quigley. Lampeter West—John Rohrer, Henry K. Stoner, Henry Miller. Lancaster City—N. W. Ward—Christian Zeoher, Peter McConomy, Christian Gast. N. E. Ward—Robert Evans, John Fonderemith, Jacob 'Lecher. S. W. Ward—Henry P. Carson, George Martin, Michael / W ithers. S. E. Ward—John Metzger, Hugh S. tiara, Con rad J. Plitt. Lancaster Twp.—Samuel Hausman, Sam'l Renck, Peter E. Lightner. Leacock—John Seldomridge, John L. Lightner, Edward Jacobs. Leacock Upper—lsaac Bushong, Dr. Isaac C. Weidler, Jacob Kurtz. Little Britain—James Patterson, James Wood. Thomas Furniss. Manheim Twp.—John N. Eby, Henry Haver. stick, Henry L Landis. Manheim Bor.—Jacob E. Cross, Sam'l Ensminger, David May. Martic—William C. Boyd, James Simpson, John Armstrong. Manor—Jas. Bones, Jacob Pickel, Jacob Sides, Sr. Mount Joy Bor.—Henry Kurtz, J. Hoffman Hershey, Henry Shaffner. Mount Joy Twp.—lsaao Gish, Christian R. Niss ley, Joseph Boyer. Marietta Bor.—Barr Spangler, George Mehairey, Jacob Stahl. Paradise—Henry Girvin, Jacob Frantz, John G. Offner. . . - Penn—John M. Stebman, Abraham Minnich, Eli Lichtenberger. Pequea—Samuel Hess, Benjamin Snavely, (mil ler.) Christian B. Mylin. Providence—Benjamin F. Rowe, Dr. John K. Raub, John Strohm, jr. Rapho—Sem Brubaker, John B. Breneman, S. R. Z g. u Salisbury—Robert Baldwin, Thomas Mcllvain, John Mason. Sadebury—Joseph D. Pownall, William,McGowen, William Noble. Strasburg Twp.—Daniel Herr, Pequea, Franklin Clark, Henry Musser. Strasburg Bor —Alexander Shultz, William P. Robinson, Christian Bachman. Warwick—Francis W. Christ, Samuel E. Keller, Samuel Fry, miller. Washington Bor.—Edward Rouse, NAhaniel Ur ban. The Commissioners request the Committees to meet as soon as possible, and after visiting the fami lies, make a list giving the names of the volunteer and regiment, the number of the family under twelve years of age, and their condition, and to de liver the same to the Commissioners on or before Monday, the 11th day of January, recommending one of their 'Amber to receive and pay out the dif ferent amounts 'allowed by the board of relief.— Paper forms, printed with' blanks, will be prepared and sent to the Committees, which they will, after investigation, fill and return them completed to the Commissioners, by mail or otherwise. JOHN DONER, W3l. SPENCER, D. KEMPER. LANCASTER, Dec. 29, 1863. LINCOLN'S MESSAGE IN ENGLAND. The English journals express various opin ions on the last Message of President Lincoln, and the London Post, a very grave institution, inclines to the belief that he was " joking." Ttee, editor says : " Lincoln must be ' joking,' and he should GORDONVILLE, Dec 30, 1863. , have remembered that a Confederate army • At a regular meeting of the Gordonville Literary was encamped within a hundred miles of 1 Society, held Wednesday evening, Dec. 30, 1863, Washington before he ventured to dictate such after transacting business pertaining to the Society, ' terms of amnesty. 1 and answering of referred questions, an oration was "The Morning Herald ridicules the procla delivered by J. Y. Lindsay. Subject: sth Cons- matio and denounces the vindictive spirit of mandment. This was a very able and eloquent pro- duction. the pronerea amnesty, which, The following question was then discussed: nothing which could be withheld it the last Resolved, Ihat wealth exerts a greater influence ; Southern town had been taken and the last on society than education. Southern regiment cut to pieces. The real Affirmative by Messrs. Morrow and bdcßillips. Negative by Messrs. Crothers, Weidner and Lindsay. object is to establish a pseudo State Govern— After a very animated discussion which continued , ment wherever secure foothold can be found. two hours, both parties struggling hard for the de- " The Morning Star applauds the honesty cision of the chair, it was fi na lly g i ven in favor of ' of Mr. Lincoln, rejoices at hie determination the affirmative. The Society then adjourned to meet one week to put down slavery, and says his peace over hence, when an oration will be delivered by G. W. tures to the South are large and liberal. Caffrey, and the following question discussed : " The London Times looks upon the message Resolved, That the signs of the times indicate a as warlike, and says the effect of the whole downfall of the American Republic. document, amnesty included, resembles that This Society meets every Wednesday evening, and is in a flourishing condition. of the last battle. The offer of peace is on S. W. Monnow, Cor. See. terms that cannot be accepted. The whole question still depends on the fortune of war. It may be gratifying to the North to be for mally assured that the Government is strong and successful, enough to offer an amnesty.— But it is evident that Mr. Lincoln anticipates no pacific result ; nor does the Secretary of the Treasury, who looks forward still to two years' war expenditures." ANOTHER CASE FOR HALE.-A clerk in the Treasury Department, " a particular friend of Secretary Chase," has been detected in steal ing about $lOO,OOO in greenbacks—a trifling !Atter in these days of big swindling. He will probably secure the " professional ser vices " of Jack Hale at the reasonable price of $3OOO and a share of the plunder, and escape. Ic is perfectly safe to rob the Government when you can secure suclva powerful " friend I at court," and that consideration will ensure ! Hale the support of all the swindlers for re ' election..—N. H. Patriot. 00NPEDICRATIS NEWS•...THNI CHANGE OP PRISONDILB..TEINI IDLT. trATION AT DALTON, GA. Files of Richmond papers of the 28th ult., furnish several matters of interest. The question of an exchange of prisoners is still largely discussed. The Whig, refer ring to Butler's proposition fur an exchange, says : "A. preliminary question to be considered by oar authorities, is whether they will treat with a person whom they have formerly out lawed. If this difficulty can be got over, wg dare say Butler may be dealt with on as good terms as any one Lincoln will select. Hitch cock and Meredith both proved Themselves very scurvy fellows— falsifiers and tricksters. They are well got rid of. It is known that Butler disapproved their conduct, and that he has all along . avored, or pretended to favor, a just and liberal plan of exchange. The first cartel that was entered into was negotia ted, if we remember aright, between him and General D. H. Hill. Upon the whole, and in view of the accomplishment of so desirable an end as the liberation of so many of our noble fellows, now the tenants of Yankee prisons, we hope the President may not find it incom patible with the dignity and duty of the Government to waive the outlawry and recog nize the beast. It will be necessary for Col onel Ould, though, to be wide awake when they get to arranging the terms of exchange, for this cross-eyed Yankee has in him the cunning of the Evil One." JOHNSTON'S ARMY WILL NOT /MIMI The army correspondent of the Savannah Republican writes as follows in reference to the movements of Johnston's (late Hardee's) " The belief is said to be entertained very generally in Georgia, that the army was engaged in repairing the roads and construct ing bridges in its rear, with a view to falling back upon Atlanta. Having heard that some unessiness was felt upon this subject, I called upon General Hardee before leaving Dalton, and I have his authority for saying that he had not the least thought of retiring from his present position ; but, on the contrary, if the enemy should advance this winter, which he does not believe they will do, be will dispute every foot of ground from Tunnel Hill to Atlanta. He believes, moreover, that if the absentees will return to duty, and the people at home will continue to supply the army with the means of subsistence, the Federal army will never succeed in reaching Atlanta any more than it has succeeded in reaching Richmond." The rebels have all gone into winter quar ters. THE FEDERAL PRISONERS AT DANVILLE The Whig says : " The Danville Register says the small-pox continues to spread among the Yankee prisoners there, and there are now about three hundred cases in all. The virus furnished by their own Government having been generally administered, the progress of the disease may he checked. The fatality among the prisoners from this and other mal adies is very great. Several wagon-loads are hauled out to the graveyard every day from the general hospital, besides tho-e who die of email pox." The Legislature of Alabama has voted that the beautiful carpets that cover the floors of the Senate Chamber, Hail of Representatives, and all offices and committee rooms in the elegantly furnished Capitol at Montgomery, be cut up and given to the soldiers of the army for blankets. THE TREASURY We have reason to believe that the actual war debt of the North is to-doe not less than $2,500,000,0 00 , while the South is still more heavily burdened in proportion t its wealth and producing ability. But taking the Secretary's facts and figures as he presents them, he makes an exhibit wh!eli betokens nothing less than speedy national himktupley. The total amount of revenue received during the last fiscal year he pieces at iql.l) 599.760 48 while the actual ex penditures were. $714 709,955, simwing, an excess of over six hundred million , of dollars ! Well might Mr. Cobden, who is quoted by Administration journals as one of cur best friend -in Ergland, say in reference to such fitianci4 progress : They ore mistaken," he said, " if they think they can carry on a civil war like this, drawinfz, a million of men from productive in dustry, and spending £200,000,000 or £3OO, 000.000 sterling, without a terrible collapse ner or later, and a great proration in every part of the community." The amount to he 1,:i1 as interest on the public debt for the present fiscal year is stated at $49 000,000, and it is estimated that this item of interest will in the following year reach the snug little sum of over $85,000,000, a sum equal to the ordinary expenditures of the Government previous to the war ! .Mr. Chase admits that the further issue of greenbacks being out of the question, the average rate of interest on the public debt must hereafter go on increasing with the augmentation. If the whole debt were only six millions, three millions being in legal tender notes, one-half of it would draw no interest. But when the debt amounts to twenty four millions only one-eighth of it will be free from interest. It follows from this that, as the war goes on, the burden of taxa tion will increase in a more 'rapid ratio than the accumulation of debt.—N. I'. World. A VILE SLANDER The Chicago Tribune, the organ of the radicals in the Northwest, publishes the fol— lowing slanderous and false attack upon our Irish population : The negroes, without bounty and with half the pay of the white soldiers, have put more men into the field than the Irish, twice or thrice over. When the war is over and the Union is saved, the honor and glory of pre serving free institutions and maintaining the great republic intact will be parceled out among the different classes of men. The native arms will get a share large enough to satisfy their utmost desire ; the Germans will come in for a slice ; so of the Scandinavians and the Scotchmen ; and the poor and despisd negroes will have a large niche set ,apart in the shining temple to hold their part of the glory. But smallest of all, in proportion to their numbers, will be due to the Irish. There have been more Irish enlisted in our armies in proportion to their numbers in this country than any other nationality. Amer— ican not excepted. This was not because they are more patriotic than the Germane and other foreigners, but because of their native love of fighting. There are no braver troops in our armies. On the other hand, there are fewer negro volunteers than any other rate. Nine-tenths of the colored men in the ranks are compulsory soldiers. Ihe Tribune is as wrong and false as it can be in this matter. goy- SOLDIERS and OFFICERS in the Army, being exposed to sudden changes, should always be supplied with "Brown's Bronchial z r ochss," as they give prompt relief in a Cold, Cough, or an'lrritated Throat.' LOSS OF CATTLE: IN OALIJOSAIA•I • - During the latter six months of 1863, the losses of horn stock in the counties south of Monterey have been very considerable front the-absolute lack of food—that is, they die of starvation. Hundreds have died in Los Angelo.; county from July to November 15, and along the coast of Santa Barbara the rancheros have also met with heavy losses, the owners merely saving the bides. The plains of Monterey and San Louis Obispo have also lost numbers, which, we have been told, is the case in many parts of Santa Clara and the San Joaquin valley counties. All the valley lands have been entirely denuded of pasture and the flocks are only in tolerable condition in the highlands of all these districts. The sheep have been moved off the plain country into the .hills, and so indeed have many bands of cattle and horses. So far not less than three thousand Southern cattle may have died of starvation, but the rains of the 15th and 16th inst. have penetrated the earth and soon will bring forth sufficient young grass to sustain the bulk of the remaining herds. Doubtless several more thousands will die before the grass acquires strength, but they can all be well spared, as there will be plenty more of the same sort left ; the day of high prices is gone for some years. The marketable cattle for the early spring demand north, which is supplied from the Tulare country and the coast of Santa Barbara and Les Angeles, where the animals arrive at saleable condition six weeks before any other part of the State, will, however, infallibly be short before April, 1864, as at least fifteen thousand alone have been consumed at the Santa Barbarit matanza and from lack of pasture ; of animals, too, which were selected as the heaviest from the largest and best herds between San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles. One ranchero in Monterey is said to have sold one thousand large but thin cattle at two dollars and fifty cents per head ; another at five d )11ars for picked animals, and one at Santa Barbara sold three thousand for four dollars. The losses by deficient food, casual hies, &e., and the two matanza steam concerns of Monterey and Santa Barbara, may be set down at not less than thirty thousand horn cattle from the lsCef July, 1863, to March, 1864 provided the season is not similar to that of 1861-62. Very few sheep have been lost so far, but in no part of the south have they done so well in 1863 as in 1862, either as to the quantity or quality of the wool, or as to the condition of mutton for the butcher. Good wothers have been in demand all the summer and fall.— Yearlings at a dollar fifty to two dollars, and two and three year Americans, from two dollars and fifty to three dollars fifty, and btrgo• numbers have been sold ; the market still holds good, as there are not many in first rate c indition, and there is no telling the effect of a severe winter on the under-fed fl , eke. Unless the season should he very cold, and the rains unusually c:.pious, the sheep filmic! , of the south will all do well in the spring and summer of 1864, and make up' tor the I dig drawl acks and looses.—San Fran cisco Bulletin, of December 8. WASHINGTON NEWS. WASHINGTuNPtDee, 30. 01144 Justice fanny is much better to-day, and is e,nsidered out of danger et present. FEMALE SMCGOLERS TRAPPED. Eight or ten dots atm Miss Elizabeth Bid—,.f ! go .d. sister of Mr. Bidgood, bookseller and 4 stationer in Richmond, and Mrs Frances Levy, started from Washingten by the Port Tobacco stage. en no fir Richmond. Four large trunk-i. 4,1. n Logs, and a r.tlM- rbundlst e.n prised iheir hags age.— Their journey watt Intei-ronted, ieNevor, by Colo,i.ei L. C. Biker, near Port Tobacco, who ant, steel te,oin and broug,ht ilnim and thoir baggage to town. An investigation of the trunk'. Moss, at il bundles disclosed cloths, silks, handkerchiefs, hose. &ct , which would have readily br, ught in Richmond twelve to fifteen thousand d o llars. The girds w ere pool , in the most eltiifol manner n. rape , , ilPlet• !I,:itik:•rl•!l;ef g , h11 , (173 and even ClOtihq wen.: stitol,; d together to be pro-sed umier skirts. Mina' half h. cc were init .Wy lolled up inside ladies en tockings, and every possible device used to conceal the real nature and value of the articles. Itt addition to the dry ds, Miss' Ridge d had a large mail sewed into h r skirt , . An account currant with a firm in New York showed a balance of about $2,500 in favor of the Southern deposi tors, who had forwarded drafts to New York, wh..l- - • they were. so4I The ladies also had about $1 200 in Confederate money with them. The correspondence implicated a number of persons. and several arrests have since been made. Tice t Liles are now in the Old Capitol. A BRITISH OFFICER CARRYING A CONFEDER— ATE MAIL —A British lieutenant, who was to sail to-day for Bermuda on hoard a vessel, the Amaz )n, with Rebel letters in hie possession, was eauzht to-day by United States Marshal Murry, and is now On his way to Fort Lafay- ette. The officer was to proceed with the other passengers, but the Marshal, Davis, received information cuneerning the Rebel mail, gave the captain a permit, allowed the other pas— sengers to go foward, but detained the lieuten ant. The individual displayed his uniform and much arrogance at the office of the Marshal ; but the baggage in which the mail had been concealed was sent for and the letters found. The letters were at once forwarded to - Secretary Seward, who is in this city ; and it ;1 is understood that the Secretary, while having no objection to the presence here of English officers, agreed that such individuals ought not to engage in the business of carrying mails to the Rebels. So the Englishman was looked ?, up. Before he went to the fort, however, the officer insisted that the Rebels had vast stores at Bermuda ; that place, be said, was a great depot of war material. and he allowed that a large share of it came from this city.—.Y. Y. Post, nesday last. REASON FOR RETREATING At a war meeting held in Cincinnati on the 16th, ult , Parson BROWNLOW gave the follow. ing good and sufficient reason for his recent " change of base :" " I understand that this is a war meeting, and that you are assembled here for the pur pose of drumming up volunteers. In this matter I em in a somewhat awkward position, having recently taken to my heels like a grey hound, and made three hundred miles in a short time. In the last two years, as you well know. I have done some brave talking, which the Rebels remember. Were I sure that I should be treated as our soldiers taken by them are—incarcerated in their lousy prisons, their Lihbvs, and Castle Thunders,-I should have said, for I could endure the lice. I did not run out of cowardice, but I well know that if they took In I would have to pull hemp without a foothold, [laughter] so I ran." Tits, ALEXANDRIA FRAUDS.-It is stated that the investigations growing out of the frauds in the quartermaster's department of Alexandria are still progressing, and new candidates fur the Old Capitol present them selves daily. Nearly all of the contractors, together with the quartermasters and their clerks, are now in that institution. The Sec retary of War expects to have the entire party before the investigation closes. The Union says: ", The frauds, it is believed, are far more extensive than was at first supposed. From the fact that the officer whose duty it was to purchase forage for the army had appointed his brother inspector of hay, and a son of the principal contractor, inspector of grain, there is every reason to believe that no means have been neglected whereby money could be made at the expense of the government." TICE CHESAPEAKE -CANADIAN OPINION.- The 'Quebec Daily News, speaking of the capture of the Chesapeake, says, notwith— standing the sympathy it feels for the rebel cause. that, " the cruel and'cold-blooded mur der of the second engineer, and the shooting , down of an unarmed crew, is one of the darkest crimes we have read of since' the days of Lafitte and the pirates of the Spanish Main. It was not only cruel, but cowardl3t butchery, which no excuse can palliate. The people of Halift.x, in their sympathy for the Southern Confederacy, have committed a grievous error, and, unless every means le o' taken to recapture he murderers the city will remain under n eternal stigma of disgrace." To THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISTATUre.—YOB are often annoyed by coughing of others, or yourself, in the House, and we therefore ad vise you to try Bryan's Pulmonio Wafers -25 cents a box—cure a cough in five minutes, a sore throat. in an hour, and a cold in a single day. Sold by Kaufman Sc 00., East: l Orange Street, Lancaster. Ps.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers